Morocco is the easiest country in North Africa to travel independently. Flights from Europe are short and frequent. The trains between Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Fes are clean and run to timetable. English is spoken in tourist work; French is spoken almost everywhere else.
The usual mistake is trying to do all of it in a week. Marrakech to the Sahara dunes at Merzouga is a nine to ten hour drive each way over a 2,260-metre pass. Fes to Chefchaouen is four hours. Nothing here is a day trip except the things close to the city you are already in. Pick two cities, one mountain or desert leg, and stop.
Heat is the constraint from June to August. Marrakech regularly sits at 38-42°C in the afternoon and the Sahara goes past 45°C. That is not sightseeing weather and camel treks in the dunes are genuinely risky for people who are not used to it. If summer is your only window, base yourself on the Atlantic coast, where the sea keeps Essaouira around 22-25°C all season.
When to go
| Months | What it is like |
|---|---|
| Mar-May | The best window. Cities are 20-26°C, wildflowers in the Middle Atlas, snow still on the High Atlas peaks. Desert nights are cool rather than cold. Easter and European school holidays fill the riads, so book early. |
| Jun-Aug | Very hot inland. Marrakech 38-42°C, the Sahara above 45°C, Fes not much better. Desert camps are uncomfortable at best. The exception is the Atlantic coast and the High Atlas above 2,000 metres, which is exactly when trekkers climb Toubkal. |
| Sep-Nov | The second good window, and often the better one. Heat drops through September, October is close to ideal everywhere, and the dates are being harvested in the southern oases. Rain starts in the north in November. |
| Dec-Feb | Cold. Fes and Chefchaouen are wet and 8-15°C, with very little heating in old houses. Snow closes the Tizi n'Tichka and Tizi n'Test passes for days at a time. Desert nights drop close to freezing. Marrakech daytimes are pleasant at around 18°C. |
Before you go
- Most European, North American, Australian and many African passport holders enter visa-free for 90 days. Check your own nationality before booking, as the list changes.
- The dirham is a closed currency. You cannot reliably buy it before you arrive. Change money or withdraw at the airport on landing; ATMs are everywhere in cities and scarce in the desert and mountains.
- Ramadan changes everything for a month: shorter museum and shop hours, many restaurants closed in daylight, exhausted drivers by late afternoon, and a rush on the roads just before sunset. The dates move roughly eleven days earlier each year, so check when it falls before you book. Travel is still perfectly possible, but plan lighter days.
- Trains cover Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Fes only. Chefchaouen, Essaouira, Merzouga and the Atlas need a bus (CTM and Supratours are the reliable ones) or a private driver.
- Tap water is treated in cities but most visitors stick to bottled. Alcohol is sold in licensed restaurants, hotels and some supermarkets, not in the medinas.
- Guides in the medinas are worth paying for in Fes and useful in Marrakech. Agree the price and the length of the walk before you start.
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